


Ease My Mind

by constellationsandcolors



Category: Runaways (Comics), Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, e v e n t u a l l y, no one dies for real (yet) and she will be rescued, please excuse my ineptitude
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-01 12:29:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20258125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/constellationsandcolors/pseuds/constellationsandcolors
Summary: Karolina's feels a familiar thrum at Nico's tenderness, soft hands trailing lightly across her body as she lifts them to hold her face. Almost as though she thinks she would shatter if she presses too hard.They pull apart after a moment, looking at each other before Karolina pulls Nico closer. She feels the smaller girl settle into her chest, and drowses off with the thought that she'd go through every terrible ordeal again if it meant getting to love Nico as deeply as she does in this moment.The door is blasted off its hinges just as their eyes close.---Karolina's dream sequences always start the same. Nico in her arms, and the world is at peace. A few moments of warm solitude from PRIDE and from Jonah. She falls for it, again, and again, and again. It's the only way she can hold her close, hear her voice. She knows it isn't real, and that her vision will inevitably transform into her worst nightmare. She'd do it a thousand times if it meant the real Nico stays safe. And, from the looks of things, she may have to.orThe fic where we get a glimpse into Karolina's pod hallucinations and the reason why the Gibborum are keeping her alive.





	Ease My Mind

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my first fic on here. I have never written a big piece of work, but this particular idea has given me the longest lasting inspiration I've had in a while. Be gentle pls
> 
> You can find me as constellatedcolors on Tumblr if you'd like to say hello or to yell at me so I actually finish something for once in my life

Karolina's eyes open slowly as soft sunlight streams into the room, a content sigh slipping out as she feels the familiar weight of Nico's arm as it slips around her midsection. An easy smile appears as she feel the smaller girl's head settle into the crook of her neck.

"Good morning." Nico hums, pressing a soft kiss against her nape. 

Karolina shifts slowly, turning over to look at her while she squeezes some final moments of rest. Drinking in her sleep tousled hair, still softly curled after being let out of its braid last night. She raises a hand to her face, thumb caressing her cheek as Nico's eyes flutter open.

"You made it back," Karolina breathes, blushing as Nico catches her hand and presses it to her mouth before letting them both fall onto the bed.

"Thanks to you," Nico responds softly, husky morning voice stealing the last word. "But can we please stop with the self-sacrificing?"

Karolina releases a quiet laugh, but doesn't miss the way Nico's eyes glisten over as the words leave her mouth. 

She nods, gaze briefly falling onto the other girl's lips. "I can't promise I won't do it it again." Karolina says.

"What?" Nico responds, almost tremulously.

Karolina leans forward, pressing a kiss on her forehead. "I would do it a thousand times if it meant saving you.”

Nico is looking up at her as she pulls back, a shadow of a smile flickering across her features before she closes the small distance between them, gently pulling Karolina closer by the waist.

Karolina's feels a familiar thrum at Nico's tenderness, soft hands trailing lightly across her body as she lifts them to hold her face. Almost as though she thinks she would shatter if she presses too hard. 

They pull apart after a moment, just looking at each other before Karolina pulls Nico closer. She feels the smaller girl settle into her chest, and drowses off with the thought that she'd go through every terrible ordeal again if it meant getting to love Nico as deeply as she does in this moment.

The door is blasted off its hinges just as their eyes close. 

Antiques clatter to the ground as a bone-shaking shockwave trembles through the hostel. Karolina is already on her feet, turning sharply to find the bed empty. She hears Chase yell something as the explosion fades, but it’s the silence that sends her flying through the door. 

She holds a hand to block the glass still falling from the hotel’s skylight, trying to find an enemy, but she goes numb as her attention shifts onto the carnage below her.

Gert and Molly are entangled together- as though the older girl had thrown herself over her sister before the world ended. They are covered in ash, bleeding and barely stirring. Chase leaps over the rubble, getting to them as Karolina lands. A gash on his arm seeps onto his t-shirt.

“Gert, hey- Molly-” He calls out, shaking them, using a trembling hand to find their pulses. He nods as he finds the younger girls, shifting two delicate fingers onto Gert’s neck. His face goes white, his voice is barely a whisper.

“No,” He pulls Molly out of Gert’s arms as gingerly as he can, shaking his head as his eyes well with tears. _“No!”_ he screams, shaking Gert’s head. His moves over to her chest, desperate whimpers escaping as he begins to pump frantically. 

Karolina turns away, lifting her hands to her head before she sees a small black mass crumpled by piano’s unstable skeleton, surrounded by rubble.

She knows she starts running, but the world moves in slow motion as everything else fades from her line of vision. She can’t hear the scream that writhes its way out over the ringing in her ears. She blasts larger rocks out of her way, falling onto her hands and knees as she reaches the smaller girl’s side.

“Nico.” Karolina cries out, just loud enough for the two of them to hear. 

Her hands tremble as she places them on the other girl’s side, gently rolling her over onto her back. Though her eyes are closed, she looks relatively unscathed. Relief washes over Karolina for a moment, before a small rivulet of blood trickles out of Nico’s nose.

The air is ripped from her lungs. It’s just damage from the rocks. _ It’s just damage from the rocks. It’s just-_ She presses her fingers onto Nico’s wrist, holding her breath. 

The stillness beneath them shatters her like glass. 

The shards plant themselves into her core and seep through her veins, pulling a scream from her as Nico’s weight settles into her lap. She holds her, calling her name like a plea before painful sobs turn it into a wordless shriek. Calling out for a girl, her home, too young to grow old. 

She forces herself to look away. Her eyes find Chase as he sinks onto a step, dragging his knees close and burying his face into the space between. His body shakes with muffled sobs, and Karolina feels her own grief start to rear its head again at the sight of Gert’s motionless body.

Her legs have gone numb, but she can’t bring herself to stand anyway. She faces Nico once more, stifling a sob as she raises a hand to cup her face. A thousand nebulas dance through her palm as she recites a parting phrase Nico had taught her. 

Despite the warmth of her power, she can still feel the coldness beneath her fingers. Her eyes fill with fresh moisture, a final, ragged cry escaping before a violent white light pierces her senses.

She gasps, groaning as her body falls onto cold brown tiles. The pod she fell out of hisses as the contained oxygen leaves it. She has no time to register where she is before callous hands pull her to her feet and slam her down into a metal chair.

She inhales sharply as her arms are pinned onto the arms, squinting against the harsh fluorescent lights. Tina Minoru’s face swims through the haze, a sinister smile curling across her face as she tightens the restraints.

Nico’s still face fills her mind. Karolina jerks her body sideways. “I’ll kill you.” she snarls.

The older woman rolls her eyes, straightening. There’s a flash in Karolina’s peripheral before Tina’s hand strikes her across the face, sneering. “Just be grateful you haven’t outlived your usefulness, blood traitor.”

Karolina shifts her attention to the scene behind her as her eyes adjust, reeling.

“Chase.” she gasps, surprised at the rush of worry that grips her.

The suited figure hunched over one of the far table rises, turning to face her. Victor Stein’s callous face looks down on her as he approaches. Not Victor, she reminds herself. Her father, leeching off his latest host. More than likely responsible for manipulating Chase into his leave from the group.

“He’s alive,” Jonah drawls, stopping just in front of her. Karolina tilts her head to hold eye contact. “For now.”

Karolina uncurls her fingers, and Jonah lets out a chuckle. “I wouldn’t do that,” he responds, sticking a hand into his pocket. His other finger lifts to point at the restraints binding her to the chair. “Those are outfitted with the same solar protection as the drones, and lashing out will only cause you unnecessary pain.”

“Like you give a shit.” Karolina spits.

“I do,” Jonah responds, making no effort to conceal his fabricated concern. “I care about keeping you alive, at least.” He starts to walk over to sleek machine partially hidden behind a TV screen, running his hands along it’s smooth surface. “Despite your..._insubordination,_ you still remain important to our cause.”

Karolina narrows her eyes. “Oh yeah? And what cause is that, Jonah?”

“Getting home.” 

This throws her for a loop. “You can’t.”

Jonah smiles, shaking his head. “It will take time, but we have everything we need to construct a new vessel. That’s where you come in, I’m afraid.”

Karolina jumps as a cloth is fitted over her nose and mouth, letting out a feeble yell before black spots cover the edges of her vision. Someone drags her to feet, and Karolina can just make out the apparatus Jonah had stood next to. A newly constructed pod sits at the far edge of the Stein’s lab, opening at her father’s touch as she’s pushed toward it. 

She can’t tell if she’s struggling, but whatever she does isn’t enough. She grunts as she’s stuffed into the vestibule, head lolling in time to see Jonah’s cold stare before the lid is slammed shut, shrouding her in darkness.

A single hum rings out before the capsule fills with a blinding white light. Karolina feels her skin warm in it’s familiar way, but the heat continues to rise until it sears every nerve in her body. She cries out until her throat is raw, wishing the pain would render her unconscious if it meant it would end. Another hum, and her bones turn radioactive. She convulses, letting out a single scream as her senses are stolen, before she goes still.

\------

Karolina wakes before her eyes open. She draws in a breath, taking stock of her body. She moves her limbs gingerly, waiting for a spasm of pain that never comes. 

She sits up abruptly as her fingers drag across soft down, breathing fast. Back in the room she and Nico shared. Her eyes dart to the door, which remains soundly intact. The bed beside her is empty, but a figure stands in front of the dresser mirror, tucking a final strand of hair into an intricate braid. Nico catches sight of her in the reflection, smiling. She turns around, crawling onto the bed towards her.

She must be staring, because the smaller girl’s brows pull together “Everything okay?”

Karolina doesn’t speak. She reaches out tentatively, exhaling tremulously as her fingers close around something solid. 

Nico’s features deepen with concern. “Hey-”

She’s cut off as Karolina embraces her suddenly. Her hands instinctively move along Karolina’s back, running one through the base of her hair as the taller girl shudders.

“Talk to me.” Nico whispers.

Karolina buries her head into her neck. “Your heart stopped.”

“I’m right here,” Nico says, pulling back slightly. She guides one of Karolina’s hands to her chest. “Still beating.”

Karolina laughs wetly, using her free hand to wipe her eyes. She relaxes slightly, the scene shifting as soon as her heart rate decreases. 

She’s yanked out again, biting back a scream as her body reacts to the violent transition from the dreamscape to reality. She’s dragged back to the same metal chair, catching a glimpse of Jonah capping off a glowing canister. 

Karolina’s jaw twitches as Tina crouches to tighten her restraints, before she hacks a thick globule of spit onto the older woman’s cheek. She retaliates immediately, sending a kick into her diaphragm that knocks the chair backwards. 

She groans as her tongue gets caught between her teeth, but a gloating smile curls across her face as alien-Tina leers over her, brusquely drawing her sleeve over her face. She lifts a leg.

“That’s enough for now, love.”

For a second, Karolina thinks Tina will ignore Jonah’s chastisement, but she heeds stiffly. She yanks the chair back onto it’s legs, taking a fist full of Karolina’s hair and forces her head upwards.

“The next time,” She hisses. “He won’t be around to save you.” She releases her grip, stalking towards the exit. She spares one last glare before the door swings behind her.

“She’s a _lovely_ woman,” Karolina coughs, tasting blood. “Now I understand why you groomed my mother.”

Jonah shakes his head, placing metal top on another jar “There is so much that you don’t know, Karolina.”

_“There’s so much that you don’t know, Karolina.”_ She repeats sardonically, rolling her eyes. “Tell me, do you get off on being a vague, pompous piece of shit?”

Jonah rests his hands on the metal table, observing her. He decides the argument isn’t worth his time, sighing. “I suppose I should thank you.”

Karolina raises an eyebrow. 

“The sacrifices worked, but as you well know, they were temporary,” He unbuttons his suit jacket. “A human only possesses so much energy.”

“I think we both know how the process works, Jonah.”

He nods. “No human can survive the conversion but,” He gestures to the cans on the edge of the workspace. “Your body is capable of withstanding it. For the first time since I’ve been on this planet, I have a reserve.”

Karolina remains quiet.

“I would have thought that this is what you wanted,” Jonah drawls, pleased with her silence. “After all, this means there’ll be no more missing children.”

And maybe he’s right, but she resents the thought that she’s helping them in any way. She doesn’t even know if the rest of the team made it out of the ambush alive. She has to believe they did. The thought of Nico- of any of them getting hurt because the aliens have an extra boost of power from her tears her apart. But she doesn’t let on.

Instead, her focus shifts onto the other pods. She nods toward Janet and Chase. “Why are you holding them hostage? If you’ve got everything you need from me, I mean.”

Jonah spares them a cursory glance. “Janet has been helping me with the schematics on how to harness your energy.”

Despite her qualms with her, Karolina doubted she’d extend a hand to Jonah. “She wouldn’t help you.”

“You’re right,” Jonah concedes. “And she said so emphatically. Repeatedly. But her son is quite the bargaining chip.”

Karolina looks at Chase, who seems unscathed. “You haven’t touched him.”

“She doesn’t know that.” He starts to make his way over. Karolina tenses, expecting another forced pod entry.

Jonah regards her. “Not quite yet.” He raises a hand, and the lab is snuffed to black.

The darkness lasts only a few seconds. The next simulation never comes, because a detonation rips her eyes open.

She’s awake now, trapped inside the healing pod Jonah had yanked her out of. The lab shudders before the far right wall implodes, showering the floor with glass and drywall. Karolina can’t contain the scream of joy that bubbles out of her at the sight of Old Lace rearing through the smoke. 

Karolina draws in a breath as a black boot touches down just behind the deinonychus, pressing herself against the glass.

It doesn’t matter that she has no clue how long it’s been. Nico’s defensive stance slackens for a moment as she catches sight of Karolina, eyes glistening. She grips the staff, swaying slightly as relief washes over her.

Karolina can feel her family drawing closer, but for one fleeting moment, they are both in full view of each other. A part of her yearns for Nico to release her so that she can fight alongside them. She wants to bring those bastards to their knees. 

She places her hand onto the chamber wall as they storm the room. The skin around Nico’s eyes shadows and cracks, her lips parting with a single vow.

_I promise._

Her imperceptible smile pulls back into a violent sneer as she swings the stave around her with a shout, sending all three Gibborim into the opposite wall. 

The rest of the team storms into the lab as the aliens shake off the damage. Chase and Alex each wield new, heavily modified fistigons on opposite hands. Jonah yells something, but a joint blow from both boys knocks him back to the ground again. They brace themselves, gauntlets still raised as Gert and Old Lace appear on their flanks. The four of them are spaced evenly across the center of the lab, a dividing line. 

_ A barricade._

Old Lace breaks rank and rushes toward Tina and Stacey, who look up blearily at the dinosaur as a low rumble works its way up her throat, spilling out as a chilling screech. She lashes her tail, sparing a glance towards Gert. 

The purple-haired girl holds up a finger, having already come to terms with her mother’s fate. The aliens wouldn’t leave their host until it died, never willingly giving up their vestibule, even under duress. At her signal, Old Lace plunges a back claw into each of their legs. She raises a small gun, firing two luminescent darts into Stacey and Tina.

The effect is immediate. Their prior shrieks morph into wordless, agonized cries as the serum carves its way through their bloodstreams- a solution developed by Xavin that would attack them at their very being. A permanent fix. 

It only takes a few moments. The two women slide flat onto the ground, and no light rushes from them as they fall still. 

The deinonychus shrieks as Jonah rises, the noise cut short as her blasts her off her feet. She collides with a metal table, crying out as chemical solutions and expensive equipment spill around her.

Molly appears and starts sprinting towards her as Chase and Alex send off another shot, Nico running close behind. The younger girl’s eyes glow as she leaps toward the tube, pulling a gloved hand back before her closed fist slams through the glass.

Karolina covers her head as the cylinder shatters over her. Jonah shouts, sending a shockwave that knocks the other four off their feet. 

And then Nico is there, holding her up before she even registers that her legs are too weak to do it herself. She so desperately wants to wrap herself around the smaller girl, but she can hear Jonah screaming his way over. Sees Molly get thrown to the ground as she joins the front line.

Before she can get her bearings, Nico tenses and shoves Karolina onto the ground, lifting her arm. She doesn’t get the incantation out before a small, precise beam hits her square in the chest. 

Nico’s back arches into the ray as it cuts straight through her, singeing a hole on the tile behind them. Her mouth opens in a silent scream, and then the light is gone. She crumples to the floor.

Karolina turns to stone, as though her stillness could undo the last few seconds. Like any movement would confirm the hell she’s just been plunged into.

Xavin rushes in not a second later, stepping in front of Karolina’s immobile form. Her presence is distraction enough for Gert to send the last dart into his chest. 

He looks down stupidly, yanking the projectile out before falling to his knees. His body pitches forward, convulsing once. And then the battle is over.

Karolina stares at Nico's motionless body.

The rest of the team picks themselves off the ground slowly, silent. Molly turns away, running to Gert. The older girl embraces her, though she pales as the scene settles before her.

Chase moves to stand beside them, placing a hand on Gert’s shoulder and crouching slightly to whisper something to Molly.

Karolina crawls forward, stopping as she reaches Nico’s side. She grips the smaller girls hand.

She almost looks peaceful, the same as she did sleeping in the hostel. But her chest doesn’t rise and fall the way Karolina had always remembered it, and her hand stays limp.

Karolina looks up at the team, moisture pooling in her shadowed eyes.

“I just got her back,” She whispers, to no one in particular. “It’s a simulation. It’s just another simulation-” Her breathing grows ragged, and she closes her eyes. 

“Karolina-” Gert interjects softly.

_“No!”_ The taller girl’s eyes open. Tears start to burn tracks down the side of her face. Because she knows the sequence should've ended already. She’s at her weakest, so if Jonah was going to pull her out, he would’ve done it by now. 

It’s this thought that sends her over the edge. She breaks, crying out hoarsely as her body starts to tremble. She inhales, and the world explodes. 

For a moment, she thinks she’s dead. But the momentary darkness that had fallen ignites, and the lab comes in to view. Still damaged, but far more intact than it had been a few seconds ago. She sees the other aliens bound and incapacitated, and Jonah’s pod reduced to scraps.

The screens and computers that had autonomously scrolled with their language are burning, their hard drives shattered and flattened as though they’d been stomped on. 

_“Karolina?”_ The voice works its way slowly into her ears. She sees Chase, Gert, Molly, Alex, and Xavin looking up at her, chests heaving. 

She feels a gentle pressure around her midsection. She shifts her body slowly.

Nico’s soft brown eyes rake over her. “Karolina?”

The smaller girl is banged up and bleeding from a cut on her cheek, but she’s standing and breathing, and still looking at her like she’s the sun even though she’s failed to save her so many times.

Karolina musters enough strength to surge upward, letting out a sob as Nico’s arms wrap tightly around her.

“It’s okay.” Nico mumbles, choking out the second word as she feels the taller girl’s body shake beneath her fingers. She buries her head into Karolina’s neck, achingly heartbroken at what they’d done. Karolina, the eternal optimist, reduced to a quivering mess. 

The ache soon gives way to a blind rage towards the monsters who'd done it. She considers slipping out of the embrace to reduce them to ashes that instant, but they were still Karolina's family. She would raze them to the ground the second Karolina asked her to, but she still wanted her to have that choice. It could wait.

The two other pods hiss as Alex releases Chase and Janet. It takes a moment for them to get their bearings. Chase jumps from the pedestal, arms opening as Gert crashes into his chest. Janet watches the two of them, a teary smile appearing as she sees that her son is unscathed.

Nico readjusts her arms to hold Karolina even closer. The taller girl's shuddering slows, hands moving to caress Nico's hair. As she straightens, Nico can't help but to smile as she sees her glistening blue eyes looking down at her. Weary, but open and warm, and _alive_. Nico lifts a hand to cup the side of her face, running her thumb along her cheek before closing the distance, Karolina's soft lips igniting a fire Nico thought would never bloom again.


End file.
